The present invention relates to a powder collecting and transporting device used during production processes of food products, such as cakes and bread for collecting residual or excess powder.
In a conventional process of producing food products such as cakes and bread, powder is sprinkled on the food. Examples of the powder sprinkled on food include flour for preventing stickiness of dough during its handling, chocolate powder, sesame seeds, and crushed nuts for decoration of food products. Usually, this sprinkling process is performed on a conveyer belt. However, when the powder is sprinkled on the food, excess powder is sprinkled on the running conveyer and transported at the same time. Conventionally, the excess powder on the conveyer is collected for sanitation or reuse as necessary.
Examples of collection methods include placing a vessel below the end of the conveyer belt. The excess powder falls off the end of the conveyer due to its own weight and is collected into the vessel, or the powder on the conveyer is scraped off by a scraper and is dropped into the vessel.
The powder collected in the container is regularly removed by a user after stopping the operation of the machine. When the operation of the machine cannot be stopped, the powder is usually sucked up for collection using a suction device, such as a vacuum cleaner.
With a conventional process, it is a great burden for a user to collect, clean, and transport the large amount of powder retained in a large-sized device required for mass production. Also, the conventional cleaning process itself is unsanitary for the production environment. Therefore, it is desirable that the above-described processes be automated.
FIG. 6 shows a conventional automatic powder collecting device. The powder collecting device includes an elongated container or hopper having a powder receiving portion 108A and a cylindrical portion 108B connected to the bottom of the powder receiving portion 108A. At the connecting portion between the powder receiving portion 108A and the cylindrical portion 108B, an elongated slit or suction port 30 is formed. One end of the cylindrical portion 108B is connected to a powder transport pipe 17 fluidly connected to a suction device (not shown). The powder 4 dropped from the conveyer and received in the powder receiving portion 108A is further dropped into the cylindrical portion 108B through the elongated suction opening 30, and is transported to a desired location through the transport pipe 17 by the operation of the suction device.
Because the suction opening 30 is formed elongated as is the container, large suction area results. Therefore, increased sucking power must be required. To increase the sucking power the transport pipe 17 through which the powder is sucked must be sufficiently large and the suction device 17 must provide strong suction performance.
However, as shown in FIG. 6, the suction power does not operate equally effectively at suction opening 30 near to and far from the suction device 17. Sucking is unevenly performed so that the powder 4 in the receiving portion 108A cannot be sucked evenly. As a result, this causes the problem in that powder 4 remains in the receiving portion 108A as shown in FIG. 6 without being sucked completely.
Therefore, in the automatic powder collection device, a collecting operation by a user is also needed. Moreover, because the device handles food products, there is a danger that an unsanitary situation might develop from organisms growing in the powder remaining in the container.
If the powder receiving portion has a large vertical length so as to provide a conical shape in order to concentrate the suction opening 30 into a small area, such problem may be solved. However, another problem may occur in that a bridge may be formed in the hopper by the powders compressed at the lower portion of the hopper. Further, due to the special problem, it is impossible to install such a tall powder receiving portion below the end of the conveyer belt.